Woman McRae-McMahon, Dorothy

Occupation
Activist and Uniting Church minister

Written by Shurlee Swain, Australian Catholic University

Dorothy McRae-McMahon was born into a Methodist family in Tasmania in 1934. When the family moved to Ballarat she enrolled at Ballarat High School but left at sixteen because her mother believed she did not have the intelligence to matriculate (Overington, p. 3). In 1956 she married Barrie McMahon with whom she went on to have four children. In 1964 the family moved to Sydney where Dorothy joined the Australian Labor Party and became involved in peace activism.

Dorothy McRae-McMahon was born into a Methodist family in Tasmania in 1934. When the family moved to Ballarat she enrolled at Ballarat High School but left at sixteen because her mother believed she did not have the intelligence to matriculate (Overington, p. 3). In 1956 she married Barrie McMahon with whom she went on to have four children. In 1964 the family moved to Sydney where Dorothy joined the Australian Labor Party and became involved in peace activism.

Leadership, McRae-McMahon has argued, is never value neutral. 'Good leadership is connected with the expanding of possibilities for people, the enlarging of their view not only of themselves but of others and of the world' (McRae-McMahon 2002, p. 14). 'Good leaders are those people who stand for things, who believe in things', she insists, but warns that they also need to be competent (Overington, p. 3). This view emerged from her experience in the ordained ministry of the Uniting Church for which she began her training in 1976. On ordination in 1982 she was appointed to Sydney's Pitt street church where she gathered a congregation which shared her commitment to activism on a range of causes. Their involvement in the anti-apartheid cause attracted the attention of the right wing group National Action which conducted a sustained campaign of harassment against both McRae-McMahon and her congregation.

In 1993 she left Pitt Street to become National Director for Mission for the Uniting Church, but retired from this position in 1997 because she believed that her acknowledgement of her sexuality would mean that her staff would spend too much time defending her. In 1987 McRae-McMahon ended her marriage, having recognised her lesbianism, an identity which she made public in 1997, declaring that she had been living in a committed same-sex relationship for many years. She became a leader in the successful campaign to have homosexual ministers formally accepted within the Uniting Church, arguing that homosexuality was a sign of wholeness rather than evidence of moral decay (Age, 17 July 2003). Although she had occupied positions of power within the Uniting Church she came to realise that because of her sexuality she was more comfortable when she embraced a theology of moving to the edge, believing that 'the margins are the places where in fact the Christ is closest to us' (McRae-McMahon 1998, p. 9).

In her retirement McRae-McMahon has continued to be active in her various causes. She is still engaged in ministry in an inner-Sydney Uniting Church and is the Co-Editor of the South Sydney Herald. She was the first woman to be Moderator of the World Council of Churches Worship Committee and has written liturgy for churches in six countries. She has been awarded the Jubilee Medal for work with women in NSW (1977), Australian Government Peace Award (1986), The Australian Human Rights Medal (1988), and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Macquarie University (1992). She is also a renowned liturgist and feminist theologian.

Additional sources: Reverend Dorothy McRae-McMahon further papers, ca. 1964-1996, c. 1964 - c. 1996, MLMSS 8154; State Library of New South Wales.

Archival Resources

State Library of New South Wales

  • Reverend Dorothy McRae-McMahon further papers, ca. 1964-1996, c. 1964 - c. 1996, MLMSS 8154; State Library of New South Wales. Details

Published Resources

Books

  • McRae-McMahon, Dorothy, Moving On : In the Life of Dorothy McRae-McMahon, Jane Curry Publishing, Paddington, New South Wales, 2004. Details

Journal Articles

  • McRae-McMahon, D., 'Exploring the concept of leadership in the teaching environment', Teacher Learning Network, vol. 9, no. 1 (Autumn), 2002, pp. 14-15. Details
  • McRae-McMahon, Dorothy, 'Living on the margins [Homosexuals and the church]', Lesbians on the Loose, vol. 9, no. 7 (July), 1998, p. 9. Details
  • McRae-McMahon, Dorothy, 'Christian Women Concerned', Women-Church, vol. 40, 2007, pp. 17-21. Details

Online Resources